


Great Heroes Beyond Counting

by misfiredamage



Category: Critical Role (Web Series), Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: F/M, Gen, If you're here looking for any of the inquisition characters im sorry, because i need a break from my original plots and inquisition aus are fun, this is literally the plot of inquisition but with critical role characters
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-01
Updated: 2017-05-01
Packaged: 2018-10-25 21:13:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,804
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10772529
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/misfiredamage/pseuds/misfiredamage
Summary: Blessed are they who stand beforeThe corrupt and wicked and do not falter- Chant of Light, Benedictions 4:10





	Great Heroes Beyond Counting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would like to preface this by saying that if Morrigan can turn into animals, so can Keyleth.  
> Also I finished this at two in the morning, this is twelve pages long in my google docs, and I referenced NOTHING while writing.  
> Chapter title from the Chant of Light, Canticle of Andraste

The first thing Keyleth sees when she wakes up is a jail cell and four guards. The first thing Keyleth _realizes_ when she wakes up is that the south is _way_ colder than the Free Marches. She hadn't realized when she first got here, the adrenaline of sneaking in to spy on the shemlen's gathering keeping her warm, but now that she's sitting on stone with only her thin leather leggings between it and her, she's _freezing_.

Pain shoots up her arm and she yells, looking down to see a sickly green light emanating from her palm. Energies swirl around her hand, that same green, coming from what looks like a tear in her palm. It hurts, oh Creators it _hurts_...

The door slams open and two figures walk in, one a man in gleaming plate armour, the other a man in dark leathers.

“It's doing it again," the man in plate growls when he sees the light on Keyleth's hand, annoyance evident in his voice. He squats down in front of her and grabs her wrist, holding her hand up and shaking her arm. “Hey. You speak Common? What the hell is this?"

“I don't know," Keyleth squeaks. “I just... I just woke up and that thing was on my hand..."

“Terrific," the man snaps, thrusting her arm back at her. He stands up and sighs, running a hand through his hair. “Well, at least she speaks Common."

Keyleth bristles. “Don't talk about me like I'm not here!"

“You're right, you're right, I should talk _to_ you instead of _at_ you," the man says. He gets back down on her level and gets in her face. “Did you have anything to do with the temple _exploding_?"

Tears well up in Keyleth's eyes as she frantically shakes her head, and the man has the decency to look ashamed.

“I'm sorry... I just... Today is kind of a clusterfuck," he says as he pulls away from her.

“What do you mean the temple _exploded_?" Keyleth chokes out, trying to stifle nervous tears. The man sighs and looks up at the ceiling.

“It's easier if I show you," he says, then turns to the other man. “Go to the forward camp, Vax, I'll meet you there."

As the man in leathers (Vax?) leaves, the man in plate hauls Keyleth to her feet by the ropes around her wrists, letting her lean on him when her legs almost give out after being tucked under her for so long.

“I'm Kashaw, by the way," he mutters as they start walking.

“Keyleth," she says. “First of Clan Lavellan."

“Andraste's tits, of _course_ you're Dalish," Kashaw groans, as if her Vallaslin didn't give it away.

It's even colder outside, and Keyleth shivers when her bare feet sink into snow.

“Sorry, but you're gonna have to get used to that," Kashaw says.

As he opens his mouth to say something else, there's what sounds like a crack of thunder, and Keyleth falls to her knees in agony as the mark on her hand flares again at the same time as what can only be described as a hole in the sky crackles with energy.

“That," Kashaw says, pointing at the sky, “is what I wanted to show you. We're calling it the Breach, and every time it does it's weird magic shit, that thing on your hand gets bigger. We need to close it. Unless, of course, you _want_ to be eaten by wild magic."

“I'd rather not," Keyleth says through gritted teeth, and Kashaw smirks when he crouches down in front of her to cut her bindings.

“Well then you gotta come with me."

 

* * *

 

They don't talk as they make their way to the forward camp. Not until a bolt of green fire from the Breach knocks a bridge out from under them and they fall to the frozen lake below. Patches of ice bubble a vile greenish-black and a pair of Shades burst from the lake. Kashaw groans and pulls his spear off his back, pushing Keyleth behind him.

“Stay back, I'll deal with this," he growls before charging towards the Shades.

Keyleth watches for a few moments while he fights, but then another patch of the sickly bubbles appears near her and another Shade pulls itself out of the ice. Panicking, she scrambles backwards until her hand lands on a staff, and then she _grins_.

The Shade screeches when an enormous tiger leaps at it, where once there was an Elf, and lets out a horrible gurgling scream as it's throat is torn out by the beast.

Keyleth darts to the other Shades then, roaring as she leaps at the one about to bring it's talon-like hand down on Kashaw, and rips it to shreds with her claws while Kashaw drives his spear through the stomach of the other.

With the Shades gone, Keyleth turns back into herself, the staff pulling from the stripes of the tiger's fur and back into her hand. She smiles at her handiwork, and turns to Kashaw only to have her face fall when she sees the angry, vaguely scared look on his face.

“Give me the staff," he snaps, holding out his hand. Keyleth shakes her head and pulls it closer.

“If more of those things show up, I need to be able to protect myself!" She protests, and Kashaw sighs.

“Yeah. Fine. Okay."

They keep going, fighting the occasional Shade or Wraith on their way, Keyleth wandering off to pick Elfroot, much to Kashaw's annoyance. Eventually, they make their way to a hill, and Kashaw calls out, “There's some people up ahead!"

Keyleth listens, and she can hear Shades shrieking and people yelling, as well as what sounds like small cracks of thunder. Shifting down into her tiger form, she rushes ahead and flings herself into the fray, not even registering the people around her as she takes down the Shades.

Once the Shades are defeated, she shifts out of the tiger form, and is immediately hauled by her wrist to a sickly green swirl of magical energy.

“Seal it! Quickly!" Whoever is holding her wrist yells, and she frantically tries to figure out what they mean.

The mark on her hand pulses and her knees buckle from the pain, but the swirling energy in the air matches the pulse once, twice, three times before collapsing in on itself and disappearing.

“You see, Kashaw? I told you she was important," the person who was holding her wrist says as they let her go. It's a woman, another Elf, dark, almost green hair pushed back from her face, bare of Vallaslin. She holds a staff as well, and nods at Keyleth. “Raishan. A pleasure."

“Andaran atish'an," Keyleth says out of habit, and Raishan gives her a curious smile before looking past her.

“We're making introductions, don't be rude," she says to someone behind Keyleth, who turns around and immediately jerks back in surprise.

A man stands behind her, and she can tell he's watching her intently from behind the Orlesian mask covering his face. He reaches up with a gloved hand to push the mask up over his white hair, and he gives her a small bow.

“Percival," he says, the faintest Orlesian accent in his voice. “Though you can call me Percy."

Keyleth returns his small bow and studies him. He's wearing what looks like Orlesian hunting fashion, and seems Human, but there's a certain lithe quality to him that Humans tend not to have. A glance at his ears tells her everything she needs to know - where a Human's ears would curve into a soft roundness, his have clearly been cut to imitate that.

“Who did that to your ears?" She asks softly, and his smile becomes tight and uncomfortable.

“That's a story for another day, perhaps," he says. Keyleth nods. She knows when to leave well enough alone.

“C'mon, let's move," Kashaw grumbles, striding past everyone towards a break in the wall that leads further into the valley.

 

* * *

 

The rest of the journey is a blur of Rifts, Shades, and Wraiths, and _finally_ they make it to the forward camp to find the man in leathers (Vax) arguing with a Chantry cleric.

“Listen, _Elf_ ," they hear the cleric say when they're within earshot, and Vax visibly bristles. “I don't _care_ what your relationship to the Divine was, she is no longer _with_ us, and that... That _savage_ Elf needs to be arrested and taken to Val Royeaux!"

Vax stares at the cleric for a few moments before relaxing and glancing around. “You know, I have _so_ many daggers," he says conversationally, the cleric visibly paling at his words. “One that's on _fire_ , one that's _poisoned_ , one that steals _souls_..."

“You... You can't threaten me, you knife-ea-"

“Oh by all means, finish that sentence. Give me an excuse," Vax growls, then turns to greet the group with a grin as they approach. “There's the woman of the hour!"

“Andaran atish'an," Keyleth says with a short bow, and Vax hisses.

“Kind of awkward?" He says. “I actually grew up in an alienage, I don't really speak that."

“Oh. I'm so sorry!" Keyleth gasps, flushing from embarrassment. “Oh, Creators, I should have known, you don't have... I'm _so_ sorry."

“No, no, it's fine, it's just... It's fine," Vax says, holding out his hands placatingly. Keyleth nods, but still blushes.

There's a few beats of silence before Raishan steps forward.

“The mark on her hand closed the Rifts," she says. “I think it may be the solution to the Breach, as well."

Vax turns to smirk at the cleric. “What was that you said about carting her off to Orlais?"

The cleric sneers and turns away, and Kashaw stifles a snort of laughter before composing himself.

“If we're gonna make it to the Breach, we're going to need to go through the temple ruins," he says, stepping forward. “We have enough men left to make it work, but it's probably going to be a suicide mission for most of them."

“Not necessarily," Vax offers. “There's a pass in the mountains that should also lead to the temple. I sent some scouts, but they haven't returned yet."

The two of them stare each other down for a moment before Percy clears his throat and breaks the tension.

“Perhaps Keyleth should choose? She _is_ integral to the mission," he points out.

Everyone's gaze turns to Keyleth and she clutches the staff closer. “Um... Well..."

Her father's voice echoes in her head. _Be a leader, da'len, like your mother before you_. She straightens up, having made her decision.

“The mountain pass. The least life lost, the better," she says, blushing when Kashaw gives her a slight smile.

“The mountain pass it is, then," Percy says. He takes out an odd weapon and begins packing black dust into it, smiling sheepishly when everyone looks at him strangely. “It's... Well, the only word is in Orlesian."

“Try us," Kashaw says, leaning against the wall, and now _Percy_ blushes.

“It's... Un fusil," he mutters, the words rolling off his tongue as easily as Elven does for Keyleth. “Don't ask me to explain how it works, because half the time the blasted thing _doesn't_."

“Shall we get a move on before the Breach swallows the world as we know it?" Raishan says loudly and pointedly, and the group begins to head out.

As he passes him, Kashaw claps a hand on Vax's shoulder and says under his breath, “Keep an eye on blondie. Don't let him try to make a grab at glory or whatever the fuck", and then takes off in a jog to catch up to the rest of the group.

 

* * *

 

The trip up to the pass is long and cold, and involves a lot of climbing over rocks, which to be honest, they should have seen coming.

It doesn't mean they have to _enjoy_ it, though.

Finally, they arrive at a series of wooden platforms with ladders situated against a cliff face that give access to an old tunnel system. It's marginally warmer inside the tunnels, but... They're full of Shades and Wraiths.

Keyleth also finds a shield that's still in good condition, and some coin, which everyone is puzzled by, but they move on.

Just across from the room where the shield was is an enormous cavern going straight down through the mountain, light streaming in from above. Keyleth leans over the guardrail of the balcony that's been built into the tunnel, staring in awe at the yawning pit.

“It's... It's beautiful," she murmurs, and a presence comes up next to her.

“Sure is," Kashaw says, and Keyleth blushes.

Behind them, Percy is boring Raishan with structural analysis of the support columns.

They make it through the tunnel system and all blink owlishly in the sudden bright light, and then Kashaw takes off, running through the snow.

“I hear fighting up ahead!" He calls back as he draws his spear, and sure enough, there are shouts and other combat sounds faintly audible on the wind. Percy hurriedly reloads his weapon before taking off after Kashaw, Keyleth and Raishan following after him.

The scene that greets them is none too good.

“Well, I think we know what happened to Vax'ildan's scouts," Raishan says dryly before swinging her staff forward and sending a bolt of flame at one of the Demons attacking the soldiers. Keyleth nods and drops to the ground into her tiger form, running for a Shade.

Before she gets there, a Demon springs from the ground beneath her, knocking her into the air and onto her back. She pulls herself up, catching her breath, and when the Demon screeches at her she roars right back before leaping at its long, spindly leg and snapping it in her jaw, forcing it to one knee and bringing its neck into range of her teeth.

“The Rift! Seal the Rift!" Raishan yells over the din of battle, and Keyleth growls through her mouthful of Demon esophagus before spitting it out and shifting back to herself to thrust her hand towards the Rift. The pain still shoots up her arm, but it's quickly going from 'agonizing' to 'manageable', and with another group of three pulses the Rift is closed, the last of the Demon shrieking as they die.

“Thank you," one of the soldiers says as they approach Kashaw. “I thought we were done for."

“Yeah, well, it's my job," Kashaw grunts, tugging on his spear to extract it from a Demon's ribcage. He gets it free, a spray of gore following from the wound, and he wipes the thick, dark blood from his face with a sigh. “Anyway," he adds, “don't thank me. Thank her." He jabs his elbow in Keyleth's direction, and the soldiers all begin thanking her profusely.

Keyleth catches Percy's eye while she frantically tries to keep up with everyone who's offering their thanks. He's leaning against a tree, cleaning his weapon, watching her with an air of amusement, and comes up to her when the soldiers go.

“Overwhelmed?"

Keyleth snorts. “You could say that," she mutters, and looks at Percy when he surreptitiously holds a flask out to her. “What's that?"

“Something to take the edge off," he says, “and give you a bit of courage."

Keyleth is reaching for the flask when Kashaw calls out, “Come on, let's move, we gotta get to the Breach!"

“Maybe later," Percy whispers as he tucks the flask back into a pocket inside his jacket and turning to follow Kashaw down the mountain.

 

* * *

 

Keyleth stops short when she sees the ruins of the temple. It's been left a smouldering crater, barely any walls still standing, smoke still curling into the air from the sheer destruction.

“This is... Horrible," she whispers, tears welling up in her eyes. She feels a hand on her shoulder and looks up to see Kashaw standing next to her, a similar expression on his face.

“Let's do this," he says, giving her shoulder a squeeze before heading down towards what's left of the temple.

It's chilling, down among the ruins. There are people burned to death, frozen in a tableau of their last moments spent in agony, crouched among the rubble.

“That's where we found you," Kashaw says, pointing at an open patch of flagstones. “You just _fell_ out of a Rift, it was fucking _weird_."

“Is anything _really_ weird anymore, Kashaw?" Raishan asks as she strolls past, and he snorts.

“ _You_ are, that's for sure," he mutters, drawing a laugh from Keyleth. He smiles at her, then heads off deeper into the ruins.

“Hey! You made it!" Vax's voice carries to them and he jogs up, soldiers in tow, to meet them in what's left of a hallway.

“Glad to know you have faith in our abilities," Kashaw says before shooting a smile at Vax. “Get your people set up, we're going down to the Breach."

As they move through the ruins, there are voices echoing in the air.

“That... That's the Divine," Kashaw says as they stop to listen. Another voice joins the two already echoing through the air, and he turns to Keyleth with a look of shocked anger. “You _were_ there!"

“I'm just as confused as you are!" Keyleth says. “I don't... I don't remember..."

Jumping down into the pit at the center of the ruins, they approach the Breach, and Keyleth hisses in pain when the mark in her hand crackles with energy and the Breach responds. It pulses with that same sickly green light, and then it crackles again and a huge, hulking Demon falls out, and faintly she hears Vax yell, “Draw!" before the creature is peppered with arrows.

It roars in response and Keyleth is about to shift down when she feels a hand on her shoulder and turns her head to see Kashaw.

“We'll distract it. You seal the Breach," he growls, then draws his spear and charges the Demon. Percy follows him, pulling the mask down to cover his face and taking aim at the Demon's face.

Raishan stops a few steps in front of Keyleth, turning to look back at her with a serious expression. “Ir abelas, da'len. Dareth shiral," she says before striding forward and slamming her staff on the ground, calling down a bolt of lightning to strike the Demon.

It takes multiple tries to seal the Breach. Shades pour out of it and focus their attacks on Keyleth, forcing her to interrupt the sealing to defend herself. But finally, _finally_ , the Demon falls with a last mighty roar, the mark on Keyleth's hand pulses with power, the Breach sends out a wave of energy...

And for Keyleth, everything goes dark.

 

* * *

 

She doesn't wake up with a start like in the stories. She wakes up slowly, to sun streaming through a window and birds quietly chirping, a low hum of voices and activity in the distance. She wakes up to a cottage, with a fire in the hearth and a warm, homey feel.

 _When_ she wakes up, and sits up, there's a gasp, and she looks over to see a young man drop a box of herbs and fall to his knees.

“I'm... I'm so sorry, my lady, I had no idea you'd woken up," he stammers, keeping his gaze turned from her. “I... I need to go inform Kashaw, he wanted to know when you'd awoken."

That gets Keyleth's attention. “Kashaw was worried about me? Where is he?"

“He's in the Chantry, my lady," the boy says as he backs towards the door. “It's not hard to find, please forgive me for leaving."

He opens the door and backs out, and then his footsteps leave. Keyleth swings her legs over the side of the soft bed she was lying in and stands up, having to take a moment to reorient herself before she sets off for the same door. Opening it and blinking in the sunlight, she's greeted by the sight of a large group of people staring in awe at her, and she almost slams the door to avoid that.

As she walks through the small town, she hears whispers around her, _about_ her. “There she is," someone says, “the Herald of Andraste."

It puts a bad taste in her mouth, and she shakes her hair back to show her ears more.

It's not hard to find the Chantry, it being the largest and most ostentatious building in the small town - Haven, she hears someone call it - and she can hear the arguing from the second she opens the front door. Kashaw is yelling at someone, probably that cleric.

The yelling gets louder as Keyleth draws closer to a door at the back of the building, and she opens it to Kashaw _and_ Vax arguing with the cleric.

“She _needs_ to be taken to Val Royeaux and tried!" The cleric is insisting.

“For _what_?" Kashaw scoffs. “Murder? You have no proof she was involved in Divine Corvidia's death, _or_ the creation of the Breach - which she stopped from getting bigger, by the way, you should thank her."

“Apostasy, then!" The cleric snaps. “Her and that other Elf, they should both be thrown in a Circle!"

“I'd really rather not be," Keyleth says, making everyone jump.

Kashaw smiles at her and her stomach goes all squirmy. “Hey. Glad to see you're awake. You're just in time."

“Just in time for _what_?" She asks at the same time as the cleric, and Kashaw's smile turns to a smirk as he produces a book from somewhere and plunks it down on the table. It's thick and heavy-looking, an emblem of an eye with fingers of flame circling it.

“Just in time to form an inquisition," he says, patting the cover of the book.

“You can't just _form_ an inquisition!" The cleric nearly growls, and Kashaw opens the book to the thick red bookmark in it.

“I mean, according to this, we _can_ ," he says, “and it was written by Corvidia herself, so..."

“Go fuck yourself," Vax finishes.

The cleric storms off, slamming the door behind him, and Kashaw snorts.

“Still can't believe you were her left hand," he mutters, glancing at Vax, who gives him a lopsided smile.

“Likewise to you, but with her right," he shoots back, and Kashaw laughs before becoming stoic again.

“Anyway," he says, turning to Keyleth, “everyone's calling you the Herald of Andraste, you know that, right?"

“Yes," she says through gritted teeth. “I don't like it."

“You don't have to like it," Kashaw says, “just _use_ it. It gives you influence."

“Influence we _need_ if this inquisition thing is going to work out," Vax adds, and Keyleth sighs.

“Alright... For the sake of keeping everyone safe," she says.

Vax nods. “Well, if that's settled, I'll get to work on, uh... Spreading the word, shall I?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to my friend Cal for helping me decide which path to the temple Keyleth would take, and thanks to my friend Emily for helping me with the teeny bit of French in this chapter because apparently mandatory French classes from grade four to grade nine taught me nothing.


End file.
